


Little Victories

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 Lives, Episode: S06e04 Orders, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23886019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: After the events in "Orders," Fives and Anakin both get a second chance.
Relationships: CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 65
Collections: May the 4th Be With You Star Wars Fanworks Exchange 2020





	Little Victories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jen425](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jen425/gifts).



For a few seconds, he's back on Kamino. He's asleep in his own tiny bunk. Droidbait is laughing at something Cutup just said. Further away are the muttering voices of hundreds of his brothers in their own squads with their own stories and jokes. Some are kicking back with a game. Some are working up the guts to ask for a kiss. Some are snoring in their bunks. He's home, surrounded by the largest family the galaxy has ever seen, and he is happy.

Pain sets in. Fives wakes up. A groan rips from his mouth and it takes him another second to confirm it's his own voice echoing inside his own ears.

"Hey."

He cracks open one eye. He's not back home. He's not with his brothers. He's in what looks like a third-rate chop shop where the droids were programmed sometime in the last hundred years if you're lucky. He's covered in bactaplasts. Anakin Skywalker is perched beside him, half-sitting on a broken-down chair.

Fives isn't so far gone he can't remember who and what they both are. "General. Good to see you. Am I dead?"

Anakin's face crinkles into a smile with more than a bit of worry to it. "Not for lack of trying. It's just us," he adds, wrapping a hand around his.

Fives relaxes, which is hard when every sliver of him hurts. He claws through his memories. Tup. Tup had gone rogue. killing poor General Tiplar. Fives went looking for answers, and found deeper questions than he'd ever allowed himself to wonder about the Republic itself. What he'd always believed to be a solid foundation turned out to be a skeletal scaffold, brittle bones all the way down.

He reaches up with his free hand to touch his temple. He winces, and looks at Anakin again. "The chips?"

"You told us about the chips. Not before you almost got yourself killed. You're lucky to be alive. Rex and I barely got you here in time." The worry lines deepen on his brow. "I almost lost you."

That's enough to give Fives a smile of his own. "It'll take more than a squad of shinies to get me."

"I wouldn't call Commander Fox a shiny to his face."

"I would, just to make him growl."

"Do my heart a favor and don't test that any time soon, all right?"

It's the closest he's come to saying the words they both mean. Anakin Skywalker may be famous among his men for leading with his heart, but he's a lot more circumspect in talking about it, even with the man he loves. They've been together for over a year, as much as 'together' can mean during a war. They have their duty. Having each other is a sweet, stolen piece of living inside all the death that surrounds them every day.

Fives wasn't raised to deal with emotions like these. Anakin was told from childhood to let them go. They're bad at what other people would call a romance.

He takes the easy path away from bigger things. "Where's Rex? Is he okay?"

"Last I saw him, he was fine. That was about an hour ago. The med droid pulled a chip out of his head."

Fives rests against the thin pillow under his head. A thick, happy feeling blocks his throat. "He's free then."

"He is. He took it with him to prove your story as he spreads the word. You've started something. I don't know what, not yet." His grip tightens. "I should be thinking that if they'd killed you, we'd never have known. I should be glad that the other clones are going to find out what's going on, and are going to be free of whatever this is. But I keep thinking back to that moment when they opened fire, and all I can think is that you almost died, and it would have killed me to lose you."

They're both _really_ bad at this. But they're bad together. Fives places his free hand over Anakin's, pressing their hands close together.

"I'm not gonna leave you, Anakin. I promise." He makes the promise as much to himself. They'll get to the bottom of this. They'll stand with the other clones in demanding the truth. Those voices he woke up with in his ears are the voices of his brothers standing up for each other. He knew it even in his dreams. Now he sees the face that he most loves waking up beside. They'll do this together.

As if Anakin can read his thoughts (and maybe he can -- Fives has learned to enjoy many of the benefits of having a Jedi for a lover and he is always ready to learn more) he leans over and kisses Fives at his temple, at his scar, at the place where they can both be free at last, and he is happier than he has ever been.


End file.
